What Used To Be
by roxette.twilight
Summary: Olette Hinato recounts her teenage life, telling tales of change, nostalgia, regret, friendship and... love? RoxEtte, AU.


**What Used To Be**

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I was seventeen when my life basically started, since it had been great up until I first moved to Twilight Town. I'm Olette Hinato, and my life is a web of crap. I know what you're thinking. All teenagers think that way. But I'm the real deal, seriously. I have the worst life. Well, it's better than it used to be…

Most definitely.

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"Olette, have you finished loading those bags into the car?" my mom had asked, as I sat on the garage steps with a bored look on my face. I looked at her blankly, and she could tell that I hadn't. That had been the day we were moving, and I was acting all sad so my mom might reconsider moving.

"I'll do it," I said dully, picking up some of the puke-colored trash bags. Then I walked to my mom's car, and after accidentally knocking over the trashcan (I'd pick that up later) and threw it in there. Hopefully, that was the last chore I'd have today, right?

Wrong, because my mom called me over again. She said to bring down that stack of books on the chair over there, and then I'd be done and we could leave for Twilight Town. Then I wished I could've had more chores (as creepy as that sounds) so I could spend more time in my beloved Traverse Town.

Sighing, I got into the back seat of the car and took out _Treasure Island, _one of my favorite books, so I wouldn't be bored on the way there.

I read for a while as I ate a bag of Cheetos that were sitting next to me for some weird reason, until I was finally done. With the Cheetos, I mean. Not the book.

It was about a five hour ride. I hated long car rides, and truthfully I was getting sick of _Treasure Island, _so I just stared blankly out the window as my mom listened to crappy eighties music. After a long time, she finally turned the volume down and started talking.

"Olette," she said, and I looked up. "I know it sucks that we're moving." Sucks? God, I hated it when my mom tried to keep up with the times.

"Mom, no one says that any more," I corrected her, as I messed with one of my braids.

"Whatever," my mother counted, surprisingly. "Whatever" _was_ something people still said nowadays. I gave her a look of annoyedness. "I'm sorry about leaving all of your friends here and all that jazz. It's just, what I'm doing is what I think is best for you."

Blah blah blah.

"Okay, mom," I replied solemnly. "I'll be okay."

I hoped I was right.

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We stopped on the way to get some crackers, and then we hit the road again. I watched the countryside fly by as the sun started to set, and it was all really pretty. I wanted to know where we were, so I could take a picture and put it in my photo album.

"Mom, what town are we in?" I asked.

"Olette, we're home, Twilight Town," she said.

My spirits lightened up a little. THIS was Twilight Town? It was so pretty! I still wasn't too psyched about moving, but at least I had moved somewhere beautiful.

"What's our street name?" I asked dying to know more, and making sure I knew everything about this place so I wouldn't be embarrassed if some random tourist asks me about it or something.

"1001 Station Heights," my mother said. "It sounds cool, don't you think?"

"Yeah," I smiled, actually agreeing with her for once in my life. Somewhere deep down in my stomach, I was already beginning to like this place. The sunsets looked so nice.

I sat there for a while and observed my new home. It looked like a town in one of those old fashioned anime towns, where there were little bakeries and candy shops every which way. It was all so cute.

"I think I'm gonna I'm gonna like it here," I whispered as we passed a boy and a dog running around with a hose. It was a classic summer scene, and everything. I loved it, really.

My mom turned into a cobblestone street, with a candy store across from an accessory shop. The road was small, and everyone looked as we passed by. Some people even pointed. I ducked down, hoping they couldn't see me. Even though they probably could anyway.

At that time, I was eleven. Yeah, I know. ELEVEN. Wow. I sure did look cute then, my hair so short on my shoulders. I could wear it down then, but now my hair sort of poufs up into a yield sign shaped mass, so I have to braid it. But enough about my hair. Back to the flashback.

We rolled into a parking lot, about the size of a football field. There were a lot of cars around us, and sadly I had a bad habit of banging my car door into other cars.

I was extra careful as I shut the door. Then, I helped my mom lug the suitcases up the stairs to our new house (a nice one, really, all white with wind chimes) and inside. There was a foyer and a long white hallway leading to all the rooms. I stood there and stared at it, just drinking it all in to my psyche.

"Where's my room?" I asked my mother right off the bat. I had my bag full of stuff hiked over one shoulder, and I looked sort of like a lost nomad, all confused and whatnot.

My mother smiled.

"Down the hall, and to the left, right next to the bathroom," she replied. I secretly made a mental note to close my door after people use the bathroom, and then I made my way down the hallway. The place smelled like plaster, and I figured it needed some Hinato family touch.

I dumped my bag on my bed and took out a small pink bottle. That bottle was one of my most treasured possessions, because it holds Breathe Romance fragrance, which was what my mom was wearing the night she met my dad.

Besides, I liked the smell.

I sprayed some Breathe Romance around my bedroom, as I looked at it. This room was a bit drab, but maybe it would change along with me.

Since my furniture was not there yet, there was nothing in my room except me, my bag, and a sleeping bag. I sat on my floor and began rifling through my bag, until I found it: my treasured photo album.

This photo album was the record of my life. I liked to take pictures, and keeping them was my soul's forte. I had pictures of me from when I was two all the way up to eleven in this album, and I was going to make sure it would continue.

I pulled out a picture of me and my best friend, Lenne. Lenne and I had met when I was five, and we instantly clicked—all except for one thing. Lenne loved singing, and I sounded like a dying buzzard when I tried to hit any note. But we looked the same—sort of. Lenne's hair is sort of medium brown, and she has pretty chestnut-colored eyes. My eyes are bright green, and I like them.

I dug some masking tape out of the bag and tacked the picture of me and Lenne up on the wall. In this particular picture, Lenne and I were soaking wet, and it was the last day of school. Our classmate Shuyin had drenched us with a water gun, but we had loved it anyway.

Looking at the picture brought back some memories of Lenne. I remembered our conversation, when I had told her that I was moving…

Flashback

_"You're __**moving!??"**__ Lenne looked at me, her eyes huge. __"But Letty… why?"_

_I shrugged, and hoped I didn't look as sad about this as Lenne did._

_"My mom says it's the right thing to do."_

_"But Letty, didn't your mom ever think about what was right for YOU?!"_

_"Lenny, you sound like Dr. Phil." She really did. That was the kind of crap Dr. Phil said._

_"If that's what it takes, I'll steal his job! You just can't leave, Letty, I won't let you."_

_"Lenne," I said, putting on my serious face, "I have to move. There's nothing we can do about it now." I knew I must've looked like I'd given up, because Lenne looked forlorn. Guilt washed over me as something surprising happened: a tear dripped down Lenne's face._

_"I'm sorry, Lenny," I said, hugging her tightly. "I can't do anything about it."_

End of Flashback

I sometimes have dreams about that day. It was the very last day I saw Lenne, and probably the last time I'd ever see her again. It made me sad to think about it, but I felt that I had to.

The next picture was of me and Shuyin, at lunchtime, eating sandwiches and looking happy. It was obviously not the last day of school because I looked halfway glad for once. I tacked that picture up next to the one of me and Lenne, making sure everything was aligned perfectly.

I took of some Tic-Tacs and put like five in my mouth, and crunched down on them for once. I usually sucked on them, but I felt mad at my mom for making me leave Traverse Town. Everybody there loved me, and I loved them back. I wanted to keep that feeling, that place, within me forever.

And when I had lived there, I didn't know what I had was so precious to me. It was a slap in the face.

I stowed my bag away in the closet and sat down on my floor, Indian-style. I looked around, then for some reason I lied down on the ground and inhaled the scent of the carpet.

At that point, my mom called my name. I got up from my strange position, and ran back down the hall to the kitchen.

Uh-oh. My mom wanted to talk with me about my new school.

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There you are! Dah-dah!!! I need some ideas, so review and fuel my imagination!


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